The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1887-05-21
HE GOES TO ALLAH.
Hurled Ceremonies Which. Attend
the Turk to His Crave.

If Turk dies, or looks as il he were dead,
no physician, no inspector, comes to make
sure that death has really taken place; but
if it has not, the fact will soon be established,
thanks to procedure more efficient than all
the gentle and refined means in vogue in the
West to make sure that the deceased is not
hoaxing his heirs.
Scarcely has the last breath been taken
when the corpse is lifted up violently by
vigorous arms, the clothing snatched of,
laid on the flag stones of the mortuary cham
Der OF Vestibule, and besprinkled with hot
water, which is thrown upon it by the imam,
provided with a large pail. The sprinkling
is repeated two or three times, so that the
family runs little danger of seeing the de-
ceased resuscitated.
Thus scalded as a preliminary step, the
body is washed and dried. Then 1t is be-
powdered with camphor, and after being
covered with a cloth embroidered with verses
from the Koran, it is exposed for several
hours in the courtyard. Afterwards the
imam returns and accompanies the corpse to
its last resting place.
The flat, covered bier is usually carried on
the shoulders of friends of the deceased, or
upon those Of hired pall-bearers. Sometimes
strangers assume this duty gratuitously,
looking upon it as pious and meritorious
act. The cortege is made up only Of those
that carry the coffin by turns, thus relieving
one another without stopping. The coffin Is
made Of cedar, and 1t Is seldom vanished,
but it Is covered with rug or shawl, and
there is placed at the head turban or q fez.
If the deceased is male.
The procession always moves hastily, not
for the purpose of getting rid Of the dismal
burden, but to hasten the moment when the
deceased shall enjoy eternal repOSe; for the
Mussulman believes that the soul is restless
and unhappy as long as the corpse is I'M
buried. This is why three or four hours on
ly elapse between, death and burial.
On arriving at the cemetery, the imam so
places the bier that the face of the deceased
is turned toward Mecca; he then approaches
the brink of the grave and utters very long
prayer, the conclusion Of which is as fol-
lows: Draw near, MOnkir and kekir, an
gels of Death and ministers of Allah.
Great and blessed God, we humbly beseech
thee to make the earth light for thy servant
May he find grace and mercy with thee.
Amen" A Christians prayer does not say
anything more nor any better.
According to the Koran, the deceased is
the owner Of his grave in perpetuity, and
the objectionable system Of sepulture In ro-
taton is unknown to the Mussulmans; and
in Constantinople, in Eyoub. and in Scutari,
the room occupied by cemeteries is almost as
extensive as that covered by dwellings.
Within recent years II has been found neces-
sary, in order to open roads that have been
much needed, to curtail and even suppress
some of the cemeteries; but 1t required an
express order from the Sultan, which made
the ulemds utter the wall Of bigots.
The cypress is pre-eminently the funeral
tree. Each tomb has to have its own. And
Turkish cemeteries bec0me,gloomy forests in
time, which imparts to certain oriental land
scapes an aspect singularly stiff and SOM
bre. 1t is upon the sea shore that these fune-
real forests are found in the greatest album
dance. The tree being nourished by the soil
fortified by human remains, reach q pro-
digious size and height. The largest and
most celebrated Of these cemeteries is that of
Scutari, upon the Asiatlc coast of the Bos-
phorous; 1t extends over an area mo-e than
Six miles square.
The tombstones are in the shape of an
oval, wider at the top than at the bottom,
and surmounted with turban or fez, the
form Of which, varying greatly, indicates the
rank of the deceased. A gilt inscription
in Turkish characters, cut in relief on q
blue background, gives the name and emu
merateS the virtues of the deceased, and
implores divine mercy in his behalf These
stones are sometimes perpendicular, some-
times leaning very mnch. In the latter case
hole is dug at the base Of the tomb, intend
ed to catch rain for the little birds that come
to quench their thirst.
The dead are not buried very deep, and 1t
is strange that the custom does not cause
more sickness than 1t does. A large proporl
ton of the epldemics Of dysentery and
typhoid fever that invade the low quarters
Of Constantinople can be traced TO this GUS
tom. The proximity OF the eadayers to the